Article Idea: In Defense of the Shield

[BASH MAN]

One thing about shields in just about any role-playing games is that they tend to get a bad rap. Sure, they're great when they have a magical +2 AC bonus tagged onto them, but until then, you're more content to fight with 2 swords!

Realistically speaking, the shield has been short-changed by a lot of games, by simply making it a raw 5-10% bonus to avoid being hit. Sure, in the fact that it is an obstacle to one's opponent, a shield is a form of passive defense, but more importantly, shields were used to actively defend and to aggressivly attack one's opponents. Looking at military history, we can see that from the ancient Phoenician Phalanx to the Roman Legions, to medieval knights, shields were very important on the field of battle. A simple +1 AC bonus, does not do its value justice while simply inflating the AC bonus cheapens its usefulness.

Regarding active defense, I have come up with a modification that can be incorperated into the Castles & Crusades rules without just massivly beefing up the AC bonus provided by shields. I give you, the shield deflect.

A character may use his shield to deflect an attack that would have otherwise successfully struck him-- even a critical hit! Suddently, that shield is looking a little more valuable than that off-hand sword, eh?

A character's chance to successfully deflect with a shield is determined by rolling under or equal to the shield's Deflect rating on 1d20. The Dexterity of the wielder, Dexterity of the attacker, wielder's Bonus to Hit, and the type of shield being used are all a factor in the Shield Deflect Rating.

The Base Deflect rating of a shield is based on its size and type. Smaller shields are less effective at deflecting attacks than larger ones.

Buckler has a base Deflect of 2

Small Shield has a base Deflect of 4

Large Shield (Kite shields, etc) has a base deflect of 6

Tower Shield has a base deflect of 8

To the Base add the shield user's Dexterity bonus or penalty.

Add 1 to the base for every 3 points of bonus to hit the shield user has from his class (not STR, etc). Discard all fractions.

Add the shields magic bonus if any.

So for example-- jon has a kite shield, Dex 16, and is a level 4 fighter. His base Deflect is 6+2 (dex)+1 (from BtH)= 9. On any roll of 1-9 on a d20, he can deflect an attack that would have otherwise hit him, even critical hits.

There is a penalty on the Deflect rating, however, based on the enemy's dex bonus (if any). Thus an opponent with a 18 Dex attacking Jon would add a -3 penalty to the Deflect rating reducing it to 6.
How Often Can I use a Shield Deflect?

A Character can use a shield deflect in lieu of making an attack for that round. In addition, a character with a +1 BtH from his class can make a free deflect every round in addition to his attack. This improves to 2 free deflects a round when the BtH is +6, and 3 free deflects a round when the BtH is +12. Therefore, most begining characters (except fighters) cannot use a shield deflect at first level unless they use their attack for the round to do it, but higher level characters can do so. Of course, monsters equiped with shields can do the same thing-- treat their HD as BtH.
What happens if I deflect a Critical Hit?

The shield breaks! If a non-magical shield is used to deflect a critical hit, the shield user takes no damage, but the shield is broken and useless. If the shield is magical but the weapon that made the critical was not, there is still a 20% chance that the shield breaks.

If the weapon that struck the shield was also magical, the chance increases to 60% for the shield to break.

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[Combat_Kyle]

Nice work. I alwys thought shields were a bit weak. This is pretty cool, Ill run it by my group and see if they want to use it.

[BASH MAN]

Part II: Shield Attacks

Additionally, shields can be used to slam into an opponent. You can perform an attack called a shield bash with a Small or Large shield. A successful hit does 1d4 damage, but Shield bashes invoke the standard penalties for fighting with two weapons. In addition, if you perform a shield bash, you have a -4 penalty on any shield deflect you attempt until your next attack.

If you have a buckler, you can perform a shield punch. A buckler does the same damage as a cestus-- +1 to the normal unarmed damage. The same penalties apply as with a shield bash.

A character with a Large or Tower shield can attempt a shield ram. A shield ram is essentially an Overbear maneuver, but the wielder gets a +4 to his attack roll. but must get a 10 foot running start and sacrifice all attacks to do it. An opponent struck by a shield ram is knocked prone (+5 to all attacks against him till he gets up) and takes 1d4+Str Bonus damage from the shield.
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[Philotomy Jurament]

I agree about shields being shortchanged. I think I'll give this a try, too.

Thanks!

[Catweazle]

This is all very good stuff. The shield often gets misrepresented or misused, possibly because of the way it disappeared in Europe after the 17th century after a brief rebirth in the 16th.

[Jyrdan Fairblade]

I feel lucky. I haven't seen a dual wielder in one of my games for about six years or so.

Currently, both of the PCs in my game have shields.

If I can speak in praise actually of soemthing from 2e, I kind-of liked the options that the Complete Fighters' Handbook had for additional weapon proficiency in sword & shield combat, 2-weapon wielding (even if that did horn in on the ranger's act), two-handed weapon fighting, and one other that I can't remember.

[Jynx]

Hi!

I like this. The only thing I would suggest, is to make it a fighter only skill. There is currently another discussion thread I read somewhere that mentions fighters as being less attractive due to their limited options. Adding this would give someone an incentive to choose the basic fighter class. Or perhaps increase it's effectivenes for pure fighters.

I'm going to use it in my game. Thanks!

[BASH MAN]

Jynx wrote:
Hi!

I like this. The only thing I would suggest, is to make it a fighter only skill. There is currently another discussion thread I read somewhere that mentions fighters as being less attractive due to their limited options. Adding this would give someone an incentive to choose the basic fighter class. Or perhaps increase it's effectivenes for pure fighters.

I'm going to use it in my game. Thanks!

Remember, fighters have an edge here already. They have +1 BTH over all other fighting classes. This lets them get bonuses to their Deflect 1 level earlier than other classes do.

Fighters can choose to specialize in Shield, I suppose, and I would let the specialization bonus apply to the shield's deflect.
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[Maliki]

This does give the shield a lot more value, I may add this to my list of optional rules.
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[BASH MAN]

So, any word on if this article will make it in? I think I will send steve a copy just to be safe...
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[Emryys]

Nice work here... *snip*
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